…dishes out winning tips for the squad
Former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu, has warned the Coach Gernot Rohr’s tutored side to be wary of deadly Croatia ahead of their opening game at the Mundial holding in Russia.
Speaking exclusively to The Point, Chukwu said every team that qualified for the World Cup cannot be underrated because all of them are potential winners of the trophy. He added that since the Super Eagles will be battling Croatia in their group’s opener, the outcome of the match will determine how far the team will go at the tournament.
“The outcome of the opening match of a team in any competition like the World Cup is key to how far the team will go in the tournament.
“Croatia is a very good side and must not be taken for a ride. And for Super Eagles to come out unscathed from their group, they must go for the maximum points in their opening match of the Mundial.
“Winning an opening match of a big tournament often gives a team psychological boost and this advice should be in the mind of every player that will wear the green and white jersy of Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking on the outcome of the recent international friendly against Congo DR where the Super Eagles were forced to a 1-1 draw by the visitors in Port Harcourt, Chukwu said fans should not panic over the outcome of the match because the match is just a friendly game which is aimed at testing more players by the coaching crew.
He also said the same applied to Saturday’s friendly game between England and Nigeria, which ended in a 2-1 victory for the former.
“I think stakeholders of Nigerian football and fans should not lose sleep over the result of that match against Congo DR, as well as our defeat in a friendly by England. Remember the Nigerian players must play safe at this point because the World Cup is near and cupping up any injury at this stage is not healthy.
“I expect all the World Cup-bound players to be fit and free from injury, so as not to thwart their dream of featuring at the Mundial and helping Nigeria to win the trophy for the first time. The World Cup is the biggest and most glamourous soccer tournament on earth , at which every good footballer dreams to showcase his soccer prowess.
“Frankly at this point, I don’t pray for any of our key players to sustain any injury now, which resulted in our players playing with great care,” he stated.
On the inconsistency observed in the goalkeeping department of the team, Chukwu gave what he felt was a permanent solution to the problem.
“With a rock-solid defence in place and a good midfield with quality strikeforce delivering goals, you can see that a goalkeeper will always be on holidays. Too much pressure on a delicate goalkeeping department is not healthy and that is why the defenders, midfielders and the strikers must be in top form to complement the services of the goalkeeper.
“However, I do not think we have any problem in the goalkeeping department because all the keepers invited for the Mundial are good.
“But, I must put on record that we have not treated our home-based players well in this dispensation because we need to give them confide,nce.
“During our playing days, majority of our national team players were home-based players, but now the reverse is the case. Every good player in our local league will often like to travel abroad to play so that they will have the opportunity to get a national team call-up.
“Today, you see our players going to obscure countries to play, all in the name of being seen as a foreign-based player, which is sad,” Chukwu said with a tinge of regret.
“You can also see that most of our home-based players were not used during the qualifiers for the Mundial and this accounted for just a few of them making the final team for Russia 2018.
“We must give our home-based players more opportunities to play, so as to have confidence which I feel is lacking in them.
“During the international friendly against Athletico Madrid, our home-based players were fantastic and they gave a good account of themselves; I think they need more of such opportunities to gain confidence.”
Meanwhile, Chukwu has given his winning tips for the Super Eagles and expressed hope that the team will fly in Russia and deliver the necessary goals in order to excel.
In his advice to the team, he called on the players to play with great calmness, confidence and take to instructions from the coaching crew and they be rest assured that every opposition will be crushed on their way to making history for Nigeria at Russia 2018.
To come out tops in Group D at the Mundial, Nigeria must negotiate the obstacles offered by two-time world champions and reigning world vice champions Argentina, hard-as-nails eastern Europeans Croatia and an Iceland squad that stunned England and world football in the Round of 16 at the 2016 European Championship in France.
